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Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Interview with memoirist Jo Ann Simon

Writer Jo
Ann Simon is here today and we’re chatting about her memoir, Rose Colored Glasses: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Hope.

Bio:

Jo Ann Simon, a corporate executive, is a lifelong nutmegger,
living in various locations in the Nutmeg state of Connecticut. She is a
constant traveler, exploring the world including her favorite country, Italy.
When she is not traveling, Jo Ann loves spending time with her family, friends
and her seven grandchildren. Her day job running a company, painting fine art,
gardening and writing fill in the blanks of her life. Palm trees are essential
in her personal landscape with beaches to match.

Welcome, Jo Ann. Please tell us about
your current release.

Here is the book summary:

Dear Tom, I'm back on Anna Maria Island... missing you.But walking down these beautiful beaches reminds me of us and makesme feel a little less far away from you. And that encourages me as I am
writing our story.Hopefully this will help other people who are feeling our pain too.I love and miss you every day, darling.Love, Me

When he first saw me, Tom said that he would spend the rest of his life with
me. To my surprise, he actually did. He was the love of my life. We shared a
story that felt like a dream. Every moment was an adventure... and then Tom
became ill. As his mysterious symptoms persisted we were hurtled through a maze
of fear, tests, doubts and sorrow. But while doctors toyed with diagnoses- Lyme
disease, ALS- we filled each day with joy, hope, good food, wine, music and
travel. Even when death came to crush our storybook romance, we found that the
human spirit is greater than the frailties of the body, greater than suffering
and grief.

From the fateful tick bite on Block Island to central nervous system failure,
to healing my grief and loss, I stayed afloat, upbeat, and connected to Tom
through devotion, true love, and by donning my own special pair of rose-colored
glasses.

What inspired you to write this book?

I started
writing to not forget the short incredibly wonderful time that I had with my
husband Tom. I had no intentions to publish a book initially, but once I
started writing, it helped me tremendously to finally take the time to try to
make sense of it all, which I could not do at the time. Losing the Love of your
Life too early is something that some people never recover from. My writing
helped me and I realized that it could help others as well, so that when I
decided to try to publish Rose Colored
Glasses.

Excerpt from Rose Colored Glasses:

Excerpt
Chapter 29 The Doubt

Instead of painting, I chose to
write, to document everything that happened in our lives, so that I would never
ever lose any part of our love and our life together. This idea gave me a
glimmer of hope for saving myself from an empty life. It felt like the right
thing to do.

Remembering was easier than I
thought it would be. The memories flow easily, with time to think about what
happened and to analyze it all. It was hard to remember the tough times, and
the pain and anguish we both had at different times throughout it all. But the
memories are wrapped with care, tied with a double know bow for safekeeping. They
are a stunning gift of the good and the best times we shared together before
and during Tom’s illness.

I do know that I will paint again
with the confidence I had, and maybe with more confidence for better work. I
sincerely hope so. I do look forward to it someday.

What exciting story are you working on
next?

I have decided to write
a fiction that will be loosely based on my life. It will be about a widow who
lost her husband 3 years ago and has not found or wanted to find another love,
but she has a yearning to have someone else in her life again. It’s time to
open herself up. It’s really scary though, to want to love someone, be loved,
make love and have a commitment to someone else, because she could lose that
person again and go through everything that she went through before. It’s
terrifying, the most terrifying thing to do.

So, the book will go to
Italy, enjoying the food and people and will have some dalliances. It will have
some sex scenes and will make her feel like she could possibly love again. It
will make her feel like a person who can be alive again, be wanted and
cherished again. It will be a bumpy and funny road. There will be times that
silly funny things will happen with men, because she is rusty at this. She
might be very demanding because of her now high standards of what is expected
from a man, that could turn everything to be impossible, but that’s the story
of it all and that’s the story of not wanting something, but then it happens
and the unbelievable happens with you even knowing it. It sneaks up on you and
it grabs you. It never ever let’s go, that’s the thing called true love.

When did you first consider yourself a
writer?

I was shy
about it at first. I didn’t feel like I could label myself as a writer until I
received some positive feedback. I attended writing conferences, read
everything I could about writing and the publishing industry, but wasn’t sure
that my round peg fit into that world. Then I joined a writing group. I enjoyed
listening to other writers, reading their work and hearing their critiques of
each other and me. They were also interested in my feedback. This started feeling
like being a writer and being part of a community. I still debated if I should
continue down this road to try to publish my book.

One
particular writing group meeting made the difference for me. The reading and
critiques started around the room, with me the last to read. This particular
day of feedback seemed to be rough and tough on each and every writer for some
reason. I debated on just leaving to save myself from their scrutiny of my
work, but decided to tough it out. Do or die! When my turn came, I stood up and
read the 10 pages, not lifting my head to connect with anyone’s eyes. When I
reached the end, I held my breath and looked up, and a split second later the
entire group clapped for me and gave accolades for my work. Wow! That was the
day I considered myself a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?

I work full
time and travel often for my job. Writing is sporadic for me, but I make time
to accomplish what needs to get done. It can be in the evening, on the weekend,
or early morning. I find that my mind is best first thing in the morning or in
the evening. The rest of the time is devoted to work, family and friends. I
enjoy the pleasure of writing and look forward to getting back to a writing
schedule for my next book as soon as I can after the launch of Rose Colored Glasses.

What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?

I love to
visualize a story before I start to write. I see it in full color. I think that
comes from my artist background. I would imagine how a painting should be and
what would make it special and capture the essence of the message that I would
paint. Now I dwell on the scenes and rhythm of the ideas the same way with my
writing.

As a child, what did you want to be when
you grew up?

My Catholic
upbringing caused me to want to be a nun, until I turned 10 and realized that
boys were more fun. Then I wanted to be a Horticulturist. My grandfather was a
farmer and I always helped him in the gardens when I was young. I was the only
one that was allowed to harvest asparagus with him because I respected the
plants. I became fascinated with plants and wanted to be with them. Then the
reality of life created a need for a job and my Dad suggested that I learn how
to type because I could always get a job doing that. I laugh every time I think
about that. Life has a way of taking your dreams and weaving them into
something special. I am happy to report, that I do still garden, but I am an
Executive with a Manufacturing firm, and enjoy the business life, as well as
being an author and artist.

Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?

Thank you for
having me on your blog. I look forward to feedback from your readers.

Wednesday, July 25th @ Bring on Lemons with Michelle DelPonte
Wisconsin mother, wife, and autism advocate Michelle DelPonte reviews
"Rose Colored Glasses" by JoAnn Simon and shares her thoughts with
readers at Bring on Lemons. This is an unforgettable memoir!http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/

Friday, July 27th @ Choices
The readers at Madeline Sharples blog, Choices, are in for a special treat
today as JoAnn Simon pens the guest post "Seeing Art Through the Artist's
Eye". Readers can enjoy this post while also learning about Simon's memoir
"Rose Colored Glasses" recently published by WiDO Publishing.http://madelinesharples.com/

Tuesday, July 31st @ World of My Imagination
Nicole Pyles reviews "Rose Colored Glasses" by JoAnn Simon and shares
her thoughts with readers at World of My Imagination. Don't miss a chance to
learn about this memoir of love and loss.https://theworldofmyimagination.blogspot.com/

Thursday, August 2nd @ Memoir Writer's Journey
Today's post at Memoir Writer's Journey includes a guest post titled
"Simplicity in Life" written by JoAnn Simon. There is also a link to
Kathleen Pooler's review of Simon's recently published memoir "Rose
Colored Glasses". Readers won't want to miss this opportunity to learn
more about Simon and her lovely memoir.https://krpooler.com/

Tuesday, August 7th @ Bring on Lemons
Today's author spotlight at Bring on Lemons is JoAnn Simon featuring her
recently published memoir "Rose Colored Glasses". Don't miss a chance
to learn about Simon and check out Crystal's review of this touching memoir.http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/

Monday, August 13th @ Coffee with Lacey
Lacey reviews "Rose Colored Glasses" by JoAnn Simon. Don't miss the
opportunity to learn more about this inspirational memoir about love, loss, and
hope!https://coffeewithlacey.wordpress.com/

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About Me

I'm a NH native and love New England. I love writing about the region, exploring it on foot, on my bicycle, and in my car. There are so many small communities and fun and interesting people in this area, that I could be here a lifetime and not do all it is I want to do. :)

I'm a moderator at The Writer's Chatroom that hosts live chats with guest authors on Sunday nights 7-9PM EST. Join the e-mail list to get notifications of upcoming guests, then stop in and join the conversation!